A Vassar Girl Does Physics In The Mid-West

Alexis Wynne
Vassar College

The night after I decided to participate in the REU at the University
of Nebraska, Lincoln, some friends of mine and I were sitting around in
my room trying to figure out where Nebraska is. There were four Vassar
girls in one room, and not one of us knew. This was quite daunting, since
I was about to spend the summer there and would have to come back and say, "I
spent my summer in Nebraska," and everyone would say, "Nebraska?
Where is that again?" But, then I thought about it and decided that
I would instead come back and say, "I spent my summer doing physics
research in Nebraska," and this would certainly cause the response
to be, "Physics? Wow!" -- one which I am already used to hearing.

So, I went to Nebraska, and it was flat and hot and people often listened
to Garth Brooks, but I had a fabulous summer. I had the opportunity to
do things that aren't available at Vassar. I worked in a big lab with a
graduate student and learned what life as a physics grad student is really
like. The laboratory environment was exciting and challenging. I met other
undergraduates from around the country who had similar interests. This
is quite different from Vassar, where most students study humanities, and,
as soon as you say the word "electron", their eyes glaze over.
And I learned a ton of physics and made some great friends.

I had my own project to work on, which gave me an opportunity to challenge
myself and apply what I had learned in my courses. I worked on an experiment
whose purpose was to understand the "chiral dissymmetry of the terrestrial
biosphere." Or, in English, we were attempting to understand why biotic
molecules (e.g., sugars, DNA) are chirally asymmetric or "one-handed".
The goal of the experiment was to produce a beam of spin polarized electrons
and look for spin-dependent scattering in a vapor of chirally asymmetric
molecules. I worked mostly on the front end optics of the experiment, trying
to produce a beam of laser light that would change its polarization without
changing its intensity. I had taken a course in optics at Vassar, and it
was fascinating to see practical applications of all the equations and
theory I had studied.

REU is a wonderful program because it gives students like me the opportunity
to do research at a large university, meet people with similar interests,
think seriously about graduate school, and make some money. I am planning
on participating in another REU somewhere else this summer, and I encourage
students, especially those at small, four year colleges, to do the same.
It really is a great opportunity.

________________________________

The National Science Foundation provides support for undergraduates to
join research projects during the summer. The principal vehicle for such
support is the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program. REU "Sites" exist
in all fields of science, mathematics, and engineering. Each Site operates
for about ten weeks and consists of a group of undergraduates who work
in the research programs of the host institution. The complete list of
these Sites can be found via the world wide web at URL http://www.nsf.gov/ftp/MPS/letters/reulist.txt
[new link, 7/18/99].
The NSF Divisions of Physics, Materials Research, and Astronomical Sciences
support a total of over 100 such Sites. For more information on the NSF-REU
Program, contact Rolf M. Sinclair, Program Director for Special Programs,
Division of Physics, NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA 22230, e-mail:
rsinclai@nsf.gov.

FIELD TESTERS NEEDED FOR A CHART ADDRESSING NUCLEAR PHYSICS

The Contemporary Physics Education
Project (CPEP) is a non-profit organization of scientists and teachers
working together to bring contemporary physics into the classroom. CPEP
has a proven track record with previous Wall Chart projects: the Particle
Physics Chart, which has sold 100,000 copies since 1988, and the new
Fusion Energy Wall Chart, available since mid-1996.

A Nuclear Science Wall Chart is being developed as the third in this
series, to complement the former two. Development of the new chart is being
supported by the American Physical Society's Division of Nuclear Physics,
the Mike Nitschke Foundation, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The Nuclear Science Wall Chart and accompanying materials would cover
the basics of nuclear science, give a taste of contemporary research in
the field, and present applications of nuclear science to everyday life.

Field test sites are urgently needed to help us improve the situation
of nuclear ignorance by developing the chart as well as evaluating curriculum
material for chemistry and physics classrooms at the high school and introductory
college level.

Teachers who join the project as field testers will receive a packet
with the following material in early April:

a poster-sized copy of the Nuclear Science Wall Chart

a classroom set of student charts

a preliminary copy of a Teachers' Guide, which will include additional
materials and references

sample two-week lesson plans for high school chemistry and physics
classrooms

a detailed questionnaire

We will ask field testers to use the chart and accompanying material
in their classrooms before the end of this school year, and return the
questionnaire by June, so that we can incorporate the results into a final
version of the chart we hope will be published in 1998. Detailed instructions
will be included in the packet.

For more information, contact Dr. Peggy McMahan at (510)-486-5980 or
write her at MS-88, Lawrence Berkeley Lab, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, CA
94720. Information is also available on the Web at http://user88.lbl.gov/NSD_docs/ed.cfm.

Election Results

Congratulations to the newly elected officers of the Forum on Education.
The results are:

Vice Chair: Andrea Palounek;

Forum Representative to the APS Council (Councillor): James J. Wynne

Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee: Barbara Gross Levi

Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee with Joint APS/AAPT Affiliation:
David G. Haase

573 ballots were cast.

Physics Outreach at the University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign

Bob Williams
The University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign

The Physics Department at the University of Illinois has initiated a
number of outreach activities that may be of interest to other departments.
The following is taken from the Physics Department newsletter.

The faculty, staff and students continue to donate their time to the
Department's Partnership Illinois effort. Our goal is to share the concepts
and excitement of physics with students and teachers from K-12. We show
that physics not only lies at the core of modern technology, but is also
accessible, and that it can be fun. In 1996, the Physics Department Partnership
Illinois program completed its first three years. Since 1993, we have offered
monthly sessions with researchers in the Saturday Physics Honors Program
for selected Central Illinois high school seniors, a traveling Physics
Van Show, and a series of physics workshops for teachers of grades K through
12.

Physics Van Show

Almost 6,000 children and 250 teachers in Central Illinois and inner
Chicago have enjoyed the 63 Physics Van shows between the program's inception
in the spring of 1994 and the spring of 1996. We have received hundreds
of "Thank you" letters inviting the Van to return and asking
questions about the experiments. In 10 years, we hope some future physics
undergraduates will remember the Van as an experience that made them consider
looking at physics as their future profession. To get a better grasp on
the science of Physics Van demonstrations, elementary school teachers asked
for Physics Van sessions for teachers. Assistant Professor Mats Selen,
the mentor of the Van program, gave a series of three workshops for teachers,
Fun with Physics, and the 90 spaces available over the three-week series
were filled immediately. The undergraduate students who staff the Van program
consider it one of the better parts of their University of Illinois experience.
This gave Selen the idea to propose a University Discovery Course for freshmen
on how to teach science to children. The Discovery courses, limited to
20 students, were introduced at the UIUC campus to help freshmen integrate
into campus life and to meet the faculty. We hope to bring into this course
future teachers and other undergraduates, not only physics majors. The
course was a great success. Each student prepared a demonstration and the
class gave a show to a 3rd grade class of the Leal Elementary School in
Urbana. Some of the undergraduates liked the course so much that they joined
the Physics Van program crew. The Van program has generated interest at
other physics departments from California to Israel. Selen received a 1995
Young Presidential Faculty Fellow Award for his research and outreach activities.
While President Clinton was in California during the Award ceremonies, Selen left a Physics Van t-shirt for him with the members of the Cabinet
attending the ceremony.

Cyber Club

This year, we started Cyber Club, an after-school math program for disadvantaged
(mostly minority) middle school students, led by Prof Alfred Hubler. The
kids learned quite sophisticated middle school math skills, and they have
a lot of fun using Cyberprof, an interactive educational tool based on
Netscape, which was developed by Prof Hubler. Cyberprof is used by a growing
number of courses at the U of Illinois. The Urban League is working with
us on the possible extension of such programs to sites in Illinois urban
areas.

Saturday Honors Program

Last year, Professor Paul Goldbart succeeded Professor David Hertzog
as the director of the Saturday Physics Honors Program. The 1995-96 sessions
of the Saturday Physics Honors Program started with the discussion of "Social
Activities of Atoms" by Professor Murray Gibson, and included discussion
of "Chaos: the Science of Non-Elephants," by the Department Head,
Professor David Campbell, and "Never be Lost Again: the Global Positioning
System," by Professor Jeremiah Sullivan. Professor Goldbart widened
the scope of the series by inviting Dr. Ed Seidel (National Center for
Supercomputing Applications) to present "No Escape from Black Holes;" Professor
Margaret Meixner (Astronomy) to show "Cosmic Collisions: Comet Shoemaker-Levy
9's Impact on Jupiter;" Professor Wang-Ping Chen (Geology) to discuss "Active
Mountain Building and Earthquakes;" and Professor John Walsh (Meteorology
and Atmospheric Science) to talk about "Severe and Unusual Weather:
The Roles of Science and Technology." The Department has accumulated
a library of the videotapes of the lectures which are available to be checked
out. Attending high school students gave us wonderful feedback. For instance,
they would like for the program to be offered every Saturday instead of
once a month. We wish this were possible.

Teachers Workshops

In addition to the Fun with Physics workshops, teachers attended five
other physics workshops organized by the Department during the 1995-96
academic year. These included: a hands-on workshop on "Liquid Crystals,
A Twisted State of Matter" by Dr. Gregory Crawford of Xerox PARC,
Palo Alto; a tutorial in modern astrophysics on "Exotic Objects of
the Cosmos: Neutron Stars and Black Holes" by the Department's Professor
Frederick Lamb; two Operation Physics workshops led by Mr. Tom Holbrook,
a teacher at the University High School in Normal, Ill.; and a "Hands-on
Inquiry-based Demonstration and Discussion of the Systemic Change in Elementary
Science Education" by Dr. Ramon E. Lopez, Director of Outreach and
Education programs of the American Physical Society. The teacher workshops
are coordinated by Dr. Inga Karliner, a research physicist with the High
Energy Physics Group. Partially as a result of this and due partially to
our current outreach programs, our contacts with the community are expanding.
The campus office of the Illinois Cooperative Extension Service has worked
with Physics on some of the teachers workshops. Teachers from the Urbana
School District receive professional credit for attending our workshops.

Also, together with our colleagues in the College of Education, we are
keeping alive a publication started by world renowned science education
pioneer Jack Easley. Easley researched and answered children's questions
in his Science Network News (SNN) newsletter. After he died in December
1994 we helped to keep the SNN going. Our first entry, on gravitational
waves, was researched at Easley's request by Professor Jon Thaler. The
SNN has since come on the web
(http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/COE/SNN/), and its excerpts are distributed
by the Pyramid, newsletter of the Teachers Academy for Mathematics and
Science in Chicago. Professors Michael Weissman and Thaler, together with
Karliner continue to answer questions. If you have questions, comments,
or would like to help, write to Partnership Illinois Coordinator at the
Physics Department, call (217) 333-0571 or e-mail to: karliner@uiuc.edu.

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

I am a research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One of my
interests is pre-college science education -- which led me to initiate
PUMAS, a new on-line journal aimed at pre-college teachers. It offers working
scientists an opportunity to contribute to pre-college education with a
relatively small commitment of effort, and with a reward that includes
a literature citation, as well as satisfaction. We urgently need contributors,
so we are trying to get the word out to as many scientists as possible.
I'd be grateful if you could post a message about PUMAS, such as the announcement
below, in your newsletter. Also, feel free to forward the announcement
to others you think might enjoy participating in PUMAS.

Ralph Kahn
PUMAS Editor

Announcing: The Practical Uses of Math And Science (PUMAS) Web Site,
the On-line Journal of Math and Science Examples For Pre-College Education.
Scientists are invited to help K-12 teachers enrich their presentation
of math and science topics, by contributing one-page examples based on
their interests and experience. All examples are peer-reviewed; once
accepted, they are citable references, in a refereed journal of science
education. We are currently collecting examples, and anticipate opening
the Site to general users in Spring or Summer, 1997, once the collection
contains a number of entries. K-12 teachers and scientists are also needed
now, to serve in the pool of PUMAS reviewers. The on-line "Participant
Volunteer/Update form" can be found from the Navigation portion
of the Help page, or from the hyperlink at the top of the PUMAS Examples
Search page.

I am a member of The American Physical Society and APS Forum on Education.
I teach physics and also I am the head of the Physical Science Department
at Arkansas Tech University.

Several articles on the alliances across the country were published in
the fall 1995 issue of the Forum on Education. During the fall of 1994
a Science Alliance was organized on the campus of Arkansas Tech University,
and since then it has evolved into a forum for the exchange of ideas on
education among educators at different levels in the Arkansas River Valley
area.

To share ideas with educators from other states, and also, to exemplify
the types of activities favored by the majority of our members, I decided
to send this letter with the enclosed materialfor yourconsideration
for publication in the spring 1997 issue of the Forum on Education. I realize
that our Alliance is not strictly a physics alliance; however, a background
on the organization of our alliance, its evolution, and the choice of activities
can be valuable for society members who might be interested in organizing
an alliance.

To provide enough information and to allow for your choice and consideration,
I have enclosed: a background on the organization and evolution of our
Alliance, and three letters of invitation (announcements)* from different
meetings during the last three years. The letters of invitation also contain
a sample of activities suggested for consideration by the members of our
alliance.

I am grateful for your consideration of the enclosed material for publication
in the Forum on Education. In addition to serving as a reference to other
society members, the publication of this material can boost our alliance
members morale and dedication in pursuit of their volunteer activities.

In the fall of 1994, during a conversation between Mr. Danny Taylor,
Superintendent of the Russellville School District and Dr. Mostafa Hemmati,
Professor of Physics at Arkansas Tech University, the need for better communication
between the district science teachers and Arkansas Tech science faculty
was discussed. During the conversation, a meeting was arranged between
the Arkansas Tech University science faculty and Russellville School District
science teachers.

Drs. Hemmati and Stoltzfus, faculty members at the Arkansas Tech University
School of Physical and Life Sciences and both members of the Arkansas Tech
Middle Level Alliance at that time, perceived a Science Alliance as the
best format to achieve the needed contacts and communication. Arkansas
Tech University's previously existing Middle Level Alliance was organized
by Dr. Elizabeth Salmeri and Dr. Patricia Roach, both Arkansas Tech University
Education Department faculty members. With assistance from the Office of
the Academic Alliances at Henderson State University, an organizational
meeting of a Science Alliance was arranged. The people notified of the
meeting included: area school district science teachers, Arkansas Tech
science faculty, Arkansas Tech Education faculty, and the participants
of the Arkansas Tech University Middle Level Alliance.

Evolution of the Alliance has been a dynamic process. In ensuing meetings
ideas for different formats were discussed. Subsequently, and in an effort
to improve the integration of science and mathematics in the area schools,
the organizational base was expanded and the organization renamed the Middle
Level/Science and Math Interdisciplinary Alliance. During the last two
years the mailing list has grown to also include: Arkansas Tech University
Math Department faculty, participants of the Science Crusade classes, and
school districts as far away as Fort Smith and Conway, Arkansas.

The announcement letters have evolved to also serve as a short newsletter.
Each year, a variety of activities are included on the agenda for discussion.
The activities most desired by the majority of the members are planned
for the follow-up meetings. Three invitation letters, with a list of suggested
activities are enclosed. The Arkansas Tech University faculty members not
only have played a crucial role in organizing the Alliance, but they have
played an active role in conducting the activities of the Alliance.

The last Alliance activity was on May 4, 1996. Dr. Gagen, Associate Professor
of Biology at ArkansasTech University led a fish collection expedition
to the Illinois Bayou. The group used seines to collect a wide variety
of minnows, suckers, and very colorful sunfish and darters. Dr. Gagen also
discussed how these fish fit into the ecosystem. Those who participated
had a good time. Dr. Gagen has had the pictures taken on the field trip
developed, and he will have them available for viewing during the up-coming
meeting.

The first fall 1996 Alliance meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday,
October 15. The meeting willtake place in McEver Hall, Room
204 at 5:30 p.m.. Dr. Richard Cohoon, Dean of the School of Physical
and Life Sciences, and Professor of Geology at Arkansas Tech University
will makea presentation entitled "MINERALS OF ARKANSAS:
An Electronic Database." The following is a brief introduction to
Dr. Cohoon's presentation.

The Minerals of Arkansas: An Electronic Database (MINARK) is a compilation
ofinformation concerning allof the mineral species known
to occur in Arkansas as of March 1996. The Database was prepared by John
D. McFarland and J. Michael Howard of the Arkansas Geological Commission.
The Database has beendesignated to facilitate referencing specific
information on minerals occurring in Arkansas and indexing minerals that
match certain physical properties.

You are invited to attend the Science and Math/Interdisciplinary Alliance
meeting . The main agenda item will be the discussion of the role and scope
of the Alliances concerning the joint academic activities between Arkansas
Tech University and area public schools. For example, joint activities
could include:

Organizing interdisciplinary (Science and Math along with English,
Social Studies and Fine Arts) fairs.

Organizing and sponsoring conferences, such as: Arkansas-Oklahoma-Kansas
Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers Meeting to be
held in October of 1995.

Organizing staff development workshops.

Investigating in-state, national, and international opportunities
for teacher summer studies.

Another item to be discussed will be the formation of a steering council
to direct the activities of the Alliances. This steering council will be
composed of both public school and Arkansas Tech educators. Educators
who are not yet members are encouraged to attend.

The APS is planning to celebrate its centennial in Atlanta in 1999. There
will be Nobel Laureates galore; there will be a wall chart; there will
be lectures; there will be symposiums on the past, present and future of
all kinds of physics. The FEd has been asked to contribute ideas to the
centenary planning committee for celebrating and highlighting physics education.
The membership is invited to communicate with Charles Holbrow with ideas
for making this a meaningful celebration.

Here are some ideas:

Displays Relevant to the History of Physics Education

A display and/or review of classic textbooks of physics and how they
have changed in style and content over the past 100 years. Exhibit a
sequence of undergraduate or graduate texts

Exams from introductory physics then and now

Ph.D. qualifying exams then and now

Demos of historical lab experiments and/or lecture demonstrations.

Exhibit a series of apparatuses showing their evolution for some particular
subject. Possible subjects:

radioactivity (centenary 1996)

electron -- electronics (centenary 1997)

low temperatures

accelerators

(These could be prepared by or sponsored by the particular APS divisions
to which they are most relevant.)

Something on styles and format of teaching physics and their evolution
in the past century

Contemporary Physics Education

Poster session on the outreach programs of major physics laboratories
in the US

Recent changes in the content and presentation of physics education

Physics education at different levels

Role of the APS in physics education today

Sociology of Physics (with emphasis on education)

What sort of people were physicists then compared with now?

Who taught physics then and now?

Who studied physics then and now?

Where were America's centers of physics education then and now?

Symposiums

Devote at least one of the centenary symposiums to physics education.
Suggestions for speakers are invited.

Wall Chart

The wall chart should contain items relevant to education in physics.
Include succinct presentations or iconic representations of the most
important of the above ideas and themes.

Poster sessions

Have one or more poster sessions on physics education. Possible topics:

Members and friends of the Forum on Education are reminded that the new
APS policy requires that they select the forum or forums they wish to join
(or renew) with each membership renewal. Do not forget to check off the
Forum on Education, to maintain your membership and support its activities.
The first two forum memberships are free.